All female PM Spelling Bee 2026 champs meet Anthony Albanese
Girl power ruled when our three female PM Spelling Bee champs made history to become the nation’s top spellers. Find out what advice the Prime Minister gave them during their special meeting
READING LEVEL: GREEN
Girl power was on full display at Parliament House as the nation’s top spellers wrote themselves into the history books of the sixth Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee.
Charlotte Edwards, 13, Aarika Harsha, 11, and 9-year-old Anna Yu were named the champions of their age groups following a tough competition that drew almost 100,000 entrants.
Their prize included meeting Anthony Albanese, a private tour of Parliament House and the science centre Questacon in Canberra.
Charlotte and Aarika spoke with the Prime Minister about tackling difficult words, prompting him to offer some words of wisdom.
“It’s okay to get things wrong. You’ve got to keep trying and trying in order to get things right as well,” Mr Albanese said.
Charlotte became the first Tasmanian to win the national Year 7-8 award.
Mr Albanese also signed her dictionary – the first he had ever signed as Prime Minister – with an inspiring message telling her to study hard and wishing her every success.
An avid* reader and writer, Charlotte has already set her sights on next year’s competition in the hope she can win back-to-back titles.
NSW student Aarika said she was passionate about spelling because it was the foundation of English, communication and writing.
She said spelling words correctly was “fulfilling”, with the way words “roll around on my tongue, I just feel addicted to that”.
South Australian Anna, who is homeschooled by her mum, said the prestigious honour was her first ever trophy.
Asked how it felt to meet the Prime Minister, she said it was “very exciting”.
News Corp Australia’s Community Ambassador* Penny Fowler said a record of almost 100,000 students from across the nation took part in this year’s 6th annual Spelling Bee to test their skills and win a chance at meeting the Prime Minister.
“It is not just about getting every tricky word right but having a go because Kids News and the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee reflect News Corp’s deep belief that an investment in literacy is an investment in future generations. And what can be more important than that?” Mrs Fowler said. “It is tremendous to see young Australians getting involved to have fun with language, expand their vocabulary and discover the lifelong joy of reading and writing. Well done to our winners and to every student who participated.”
Kids News editor Diana Jenkins said the new student registration record showed kids and teachers alike were coming back every year to enjoy a free, fun spelling bee minus the stress of spelling out loud in front of the class.
“The American spelling bee model really only supports already gifted spellers. That’s not our Bee and it’s not an Aussie fair go,” Ms Jenkins said. “Our big dream at Kids News is seeing all Australian kids hitting foundation literacy benchmarks because that’s how great futures are made.”
“The Bee site’s Try the Bee* tool was used nearly 300,000 times during this year’s competition – that’s just incredible and I think it’s because parents and teachers know spelling skills improve student outcomes,” Ms Jenkins continued. “Kids News is incredibly proud to support the nation’s hardworking teachers with a competition designed for the majority rather than the few, so more kids can simply have a crack and have some fun into the bargain.
“Teachers are getting kids back to those basics we all remember. We’re so delighted for our winners and we applaud every student who took part this year.”
POLL
GLOSSARY
- avid: very passionate about something
- Ambassador: someone who works to bring about positive improvement for a specific cause
- Try the Bee: a free, timed online practice format of the PM Spelling Bee that lets kids experience the exact set up of the competition before actually participating in it
EXTRA READING
Un-Bee-lievable: first all-female trio
PM leaves Bee winners in stitches
Bee winners put PM to the test
QUICK QUIZ
1. What words of wisdom did the Prime Minister offer this year’s Spelling Bee champs?
2. What were some of the ‘firsts’ achieved in this year’s competition?
3. How is the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee different to the American model of spelling bees?
4. How many times was Try the Bee used during this year’s competition?
5. How does NSW student Aarika feel about spelling words correctly?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Making spelling fun!
This Kids News article describes a competition designed to encourage participation, not just reward gifted spellers.
Work in small groups and design an inclusive spelling competition for your school.
As a group, decide the following;
– How students of different abilities can participate?
– Whether students compete individually or in teams?
– How to make mistakes feel safe?
– How to recognise effort, improvement and teamwork?
– What prizes or certificates could be awarded?
As a group, present your plans and explain how their competition would encourage more students to enjoy literacy.
Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
2. Extension
Write a short imaginative story about a dictionary that brings words to life. In your story, explore how words can influence people, change meaning in different contexts or shape the way people communicate with others.
Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking
VCOP ACTIVITY
Exercise the body and the mind
Exercise is not only important for the body, but it’s a lot of fun as well. Let’s bring more exercise into classroom learning by creating a VCOP PE game.
You can add a VCOP challenge to pretty much any game, and it’s a great way to encourage the teacher to let the class play more games.
Here is an example to get you started, then you create one of your own.
VCOP dodge ball
The normal rules of dodge ball apply. Two teams throw soft balls at each other and if you get hit, you have to sit out. The team who knocks out all the players on the other team, wins.
VCOP challenge: when you get eliminated, collect a mini-whiteboard and a basic clause from the sidelines. Up-level the sentence (make it better) by adding VCOP. When you show the teacher your completed sentence, you can return to the game.
Play for a set amount of time and the team with the most players left on the court wins.
Support: use the “Up-Level It” card set – players have to complete one card from the set instead of completing all VCOP challenges.
What can you come up with?